Review: Drake’s Dark Wing IPA

This latest from Drake’s is an IPA without comparison. A black IPA made with 2-Row Pale Malt, Crystal Malt, and Black Malt, and Denali, Cascade, and Warrior hops, it’s an immediately weird experience. Chewy, burnt toast/overdone pretzel notes up front lead the way to a kind of gravelly, yet intensely bitter body. The finish evokes chewed-up asparagus stalks and cigarette ash, though there’s enough of a pure hop character to at least make things somewhat interesting as a lark.